One of the Prime Prep Employees Allegedly Choked by Deion Sanders Is Suing

With the recent closing of Deion Sanders' Prime Prep Academy over a $700,000 debt, it seems fitting, in retrospect, that the first Prime Prep employee to publicly accuse Sanders of assault was the finance guy. Kevin Jefferson was hired by Sanders' co-founder/nemesis, D.L. Wallace, and worked as the chief financial officer until January 2014, when Sanders and his associates staged a successful coup against Wallace and fired everyone he hired.

The school has since been shuttered, but the feud between the school's adult leadership lives on. Jefferson is now suing Uplift Fort Worth, the non-profit that theoretically governed Prime Prep, over his firing and the assault. The complaint, filed December 31 and first reported by The Dallas Morning News, says that he "seeks damages more than $50,000." Good luck with that.

Jefferson's fight with Sanders happened during a school board meeting in the fall of 2013. Sanders wanted more money funneled to the school's Dallas campus, where the athletes were, and accused Jefferson of cheating his kids. Jefferson told police that Sanders then grabbed him by the collar and dug his knuckles in his throat before pushing him against the wall.

Sanders pleaded no-contest to a class C misdemeanor assault, and the school's then-superintendent fired Sanders. But Uplift Fort Worth was on Sanders' side. The board pressured the superintendent to resign shortly after and then fired Jefferson and the rest of the school's leadership.

In his suit, Jefferson argues that Uplift breached its contract by firing him in January 2014 and asks for some of his generous promised salary back. "Pursuant to the contract, Plaintiff was to be paid a minimum of $78,000 per year for a period of three years," Jefferson's suit says. "Plaintiff's salary was set to increase by a minimum of 10% per year." He also wants money for being choked, which seems fair. "Plaintiff seeks compensatory damages for his pain and suffering, mental anguish, and past and future medical expenses incurred," the suit says.

The school's former operating officer, Sean Allen, has also said he was also choked by Sanders. In an audio recording we obtained last year, Sanders seems to admit to that choke. Prime Prep co-founder D.L Wallace has also accused Sanders of choking him. But Jefferson was the only one who took his choking allegations to the police.

"You might as well not call back here anymore," said a woman's voice when we called Jefferson's number for comment.